Should You Have Advertising on Your Site or Not?

By Charlie on June 23rd, 2008 | Filed in Good Business Practice | 7

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the on-site advertising issue. Luckily, one of the schools only goes up through kindergarten.

A lot of website owners struggle with the idea of monetizing their sites, especially when it comes to advertising. They want the income of ads, but not the clutter. And some fear that advertisements will make them appear greedy to their readers, elicit nasty feedback or even lose them subscribers.

But is having a few ads in your sidebar that big a deal? Are ads really going to draw the line between a hugely successful site and one that appeals only to the most ad-tolerant minority? Possibly, but only if your site sucked to begin with.

On-site Advertising. Debunking the Reasons Against.

1. Ads take people away from your site

This isn’t actually 100% true. I mean, ads do take people away from your site but there are so many solutions for this it’s not really much of a detriment.

First, there’s always the “Back” button and everyone knows how to use it.
Read the rest →

What a Lousy Blackjack Dealer Taught me About Customer Service

By Charlie on June 2nd, 2008 | Filed in Client Relations | 11

Mini-lesson for those who don’t want to read the whole post: “You probably should have read the whole post.”

I sat down at the Blackjack table, pulled out a $20 and stuck it on the velvety green tabletop for the dealer to change. He gave me four weathered $5 chips, then neglected to wish me luck.

He dealt the cards and I won my first hand, earning another $5 chip.

While beginning to shuffle, the dealer the said, “I’ll get you the next hand.” He didn’t say it with humor or sarcasm, which I wouldn’t have minded one bit. He said it with that awful I’m-king-of-the-world tone possessed by people who enjoy throwing fast-food wrappers out their car windows.

I looked up at him with my eyebrows raised. Not so much from surprise at what he said, but because I’ve rarely had a Blackjack dealer talk to me at all. And I’ve never had a dealer say something other than “Nice hit,” or “Good luck,” or a well-placed “Sorry.”

The dealer noticed me giving him my best stink-eye, shrugged and said, “What? It’s true. It’s only the odds. The dealer usually wins.”
Read the rest →

How to Make $3,400 While on Vacation

By Charlie on May 19th, 2008 | Filed in Getting Commissions | 10

How to Make Money While on Vacation This last weekend I turned 34. Amidst vacationing on the beach, reading some great books and contemplating future hip replacements, I also kept in touch with potential clients via my phone.

They’d write me and I’d respond with ultra-classy emails such as: “I’m sorry for the short response, but I’m away on vacation until Sunday. I’d be more than happy to discuss your project with you when I return. Until then!”

One for one, without variance, each and every person wrote back and said something along the lines of “Thanks for the prompt reply! And on vacation no less! Enjoy your birthday.”

And one for one those potential clients each became actual clients. Now, only 3 hours into Monday, I’ve got $3400 worth of work lined up for next week. So far. No, that’s not a lot but it’s also not bad for a business that started in late 2007.

I don’t report on my finances much publicly. In fact, that’s the first time I’ve ever done it because people get weird when money is mentioned. They laugh in your face, or start sending you Costco palettes of Top Ramen, or get viciously jealous and steal the hood ornament off your Jag.
Read the rest →

8 things about me that won’t improve your day

By Charlie on May 12th, 2008 | Filed in The Lighter Side | 59

Kelly tagged me for this one and I love Kelly so I’d better respond. Thanks for the tag, girl!

The meme this time is to give 8 pieces of juicy info about yourself that others might find interesting. I’m not sure how interesting I am, but I know for a fact that I’m not juicy, so we’ll see how this goes!

I’m not a big fan of talking about myself. I’m an even lesser fan of asking myself questions which then lead me to talk to myself about myself. So, for this one I’ll pretend to be someone else interviewing me. Preferably someone with a super sultry lounge-singer voice. And I’m going to be asking a few questions of myself that will hint at some ways I run my business, make money, etc. Enjoy!
Read the rest →

There are Only Four Business Styles. Which is Yours?

By Charlie on April 28th, 2008 | Filed in Client Relations, Good Business Practice | 5

Which Style of Business is Yours? Your customer has money and you want it.

You have a service or product for sale and your customer wants that.

Somewhere between those two is a seemingly delicate balance of who delivers what and for how much money. I say a “seemingly” delicate balance because in truth there’s only one way to intelligently run your business. And when I say “intelligently” I mean with more knowledge than, say, a jar of mayonnaise.

When your client gives you money, you have a choice of what you do with it and what you give him in exchange.

The four types of business exchange

Someone gives you money for a product or service and you take it and run. That’s called theft.
Someone gives you money and you do a lousy job for them. That’s called being half-ass.
Someone gives you money and you do exactly what you say you’ll do. That’s called fair exchange.
Someone gives you money and you do exactly what you say, and then a little bit extra. That’s called securing your future.

For real business people and people who believe in ethics, options 1 and 2 aren’t options. They’re unethical business practice and could possibly land you in jail and/or with a black-eye and missing teeth. I don’t recommend this route. Unless you just happen to be a fan of cramped spaces and general disfigurement.

Option 3, just delivering what was expected, is certainly fair. It’s also excruciatingly average. I don’t recommend this route either.

Option 4, going that little bit further, is the only way to go.

How to deliver beyond expectations

Do it faster. Your client is expecting the project in six days. Extra: Finish it in three.
Give them more stuff. Your job is to deliver a horse to your client’s stable. Extra: Throw in the rope or a free bag of feed.
Educate them. Your client wants a website, so design the website and then show him proof of its valid code, or how the contact form works. Or write him a tutorial on how to use the site on his own. Or give him free site maintenance for a month.
Extra service. Your client is expecting five logo samples to choose from. Extra: Give him ten.
Great communication. Your client is expecting an answer to his emails within 24 hours. Extra: Write him back in 5 minutes. If people in general were better at communicating, I wouldn’t list this as an extra. Nowadays, believe me, it is. Fast, open and clear communication is extraordinary. The “I’ll get around to it” attitude is the prevalent viewpoint on emails.

There are other ways, but you get the idea.

And can you imagine if you did a combination of these methods? Pandemonium. In a good way.

But doesn’t this break the bank?

Not at all. The point is not to give away so many extras that you break even on every project. The point is to be extraordinary, and that doesn’t necessarily take money. Sometimes all it takes is great communication to do the trick.

And besides, if your idea of great exchange is to supply only the barest of minimums you’re not really cut out for business. Every stellar business success has been built on a foundation of delivering above and beyond.

And if the extras you choose to employ do take money, you’re still in fine shape because you can deduct the costs from your income as a business expense. That means it’s a wash and costs you a grand total of zero cents.

Don’t look for ways to cut down your service to your clients. Cheap businesses do this and it makes them look even cheaper.

Everybody can be average. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t.